She's a gambler

E and I spent Sunday morning at Oak Park-River Forest High School, shopping at the Oak Park Women's Exchange holiday craft show. E bought herself a pair of earrings (dangly, green Christmas stockings), but the real reason she wanted to go was the raffle.

Each year, the Women's Exchange hosts a raffle. Each vendor at the craft show donates one of their items to be given away as a prize. You pay $1 for two tickets, reach your hand into a big box and pull out the number of envelopes you purchased. A slip of paper inside the envelope says either "Sorry, try again," "Free ticket" or gives a number that corresponds with the prize you've just won. Last year, E won three items (a wooden bird house, a decoated pile of birch logs and a wool floral pin she wears on her jacket). This year she just couldn't get a winner despite spending a good portion of her baby-sitting money. She attributed this to changes in the raffle. Instead of envelopes, the raffle used tickets, and instead of being in a big box, the tickets were in a see-through cage.



She wasn't leaving without a prize, though. She won a Beanie Baby cat on her first try at the show's kiddie raffle.